Two at a Time
by Afray
Summary: Rose and Mack are dating when something very bad happens to Mack. Rose is devastated and finds consolence in the hands of Nathan. Mack is believed to be dead or is he!
1. Just A Dream

_Baby, why'd you leave me, why'd you have to go  
I was counting on forever, now I'll never know  
I can't even breathe  
It's like I'm, looking from a distance, standing in the background  
Everybody's saying, he's not coming home now,  
This can't be happening to me  
This is just a dream_

_He had decided to take her to his favorite place, somewhere his father used to take him as a kid. He loved it and he was sure she would love it too. It was meant to be the perfect evening. But fate plays its games…._

Rose looked down. She couldn't believe it. She didn't want to believe it. Her heart wouldn't allow it. Behind her, her fellow rangers were fighting Flurious. They didn't know. They hadn't realized what had happened.

She heard Ronny cursing at the Chillers, she wanted to help her. But she couldn't.

She kept looking down, her eyes seeing what her heart didn't want to believe. She couldn't see him; the cliff was far too high. She hoped that maybe….no…she knew it was impossible for him to survive such a fall.

She realized the fight had stopped. Ronny came towards her and she realized what Rose had known. He wasn't there. He wasn't anywhere. Ronny remembered that he had gone to help Rose but not much else. When the fight had stopped, she had looked for him but hadn't found him. She saw Rose standing by the cliff, her eyes peering down, a tear flowing down her cheek.

Flurious had won. He hadn't defeated all the rangers. But he had defeated one, the Red Ranger…Mack Hartford…her Mack.


	2. Ordinary Day

_I wish I could see you  
and be there where my arms could reach you  
I wish I could let you know  
how much you touch my life  
maybe a little time is all the time we get  
The Words we long to say are words that go unsaid  
you can go back again_

_If I could have one thing  
that one thing that I would chose  
is one more ordinary day  
With you_

Miratrix was worried; worried about the boy's life. She didn't know why she was doing what she was doing. Maybe it was the sadness and the love she saw in his friend's eyes or maybe she just felt she couldn't leave him there like that. It was raining quite heavily and she couldn't concentrate on what she was doing. She saw a house which looked quite welcoming. This was her only choice; she would have to do it. She ran up to the house carrying the boy. She rang the bell. A woman opened the door.

"Please let me come in" Miratrix pleaded," The boy is sick. I need help"  
The woman looked startled but when she saw the boy she quickly let them in. Miratrix took a quick examination of the room. She saw a picture of a boy of about college age with blonde hair and striking blue eyes hanging on the wall.

"They have a son" she thought to herself.

_A week later-_

"I can't believe he's actually gone" said Ronny to Will a tear pouring down her cheek.

"It's hard to know that I won't be able to hang out with him anymore" Will said about his best friend.

"He was such a good leader and a good friend" said Dax; the grief in his voice eminent.

"It's because of him I'm here with you guys right now" said Tyzonn.

Just then Rose walked in and everybody looked down. She never spoke to anybody since what had happened and just seemed depressed and sad. Mack's body wasn't found and this made it harder for her. Mr Hartford had held a memory service but halfway through it she had run out of the room crying. Ronny had tried talking to her but she jut rejected her too.

"Hi" said Rose to the other rangers.

"Hi" they said, their voices low.

Rose looked around at them and wiped away a tear. She couldn't believe that every time she came into this room, Mack wouldn't be there to greet her and give her a smile that always made her day. She couldn't stand the thought of being defeated without Mack there to reassure her and tell her she's great. She couldn't accept the fact that she wouldn't look into those eyes and see the love in them. She couldn't believe Mack was no longer with her. She couldn't stand it anymore, so she ran out of the room. Tyzonn got up to go behind her but Will stopped him. He knew she needed some time alone. Rose ran to her room and grabbed a coat and went out of the mansion. She felt suffocated in there. She needed some fresh air. She went to the park and sat down on a bench. Tears poured down her cheek but she didn't wipe them. She let them flow; she needed to let out her sadness.

"Excuse me, do you mind if I sit here?"

Rose looked up to see a guy about her age with blonde hair and striking blue eyes standing there with an ice-cream in his hand.

"Sure" Rose replied.

He sat down and ate the ice-cream. Rose knew he would probably stare at her because she was crying. But when she looked at him, he was reading and didn't seem to notice that Rose was crying. She was thankful that he didn't bother her too much. After some time Rose decided to go back to the mansion. She got up and walked back. She was walking through a deserted road and she felt quite vulnerable. She usually didn't feel that way. She was walking when she felt some movement behind her; she quickly turned around and thought she saw Miratrix.

"I need to stop being so scared" she told herself and went back to the Hartford mansion.


	3. My Heart Will Go On

_Near, far, wherever you are  
I believe that the heart does go on  
Once more you open the door  
And you're here in my heart  
And my heart will go on and on_

You're here, there's nothing I fear  
And I know that my heart will go on  
We'll stay forever this way  
You are safe in my heart  
And my heart will go on and on

"What the hell am I doing here?" Rose thought to herself, "What was I thinking?"

She checked herself in the mirror once again. It had been so long since she had actually out on some makeup. She took out her cell phone and thought about calling Ronny and asking her to bail her out. But she then decided that it would be rude. She needed this. She needed to move on.

She walked out of the bathroom and went to her table.

"I'm sorry…. I just…" Rose tried explaining to the guy sitting opposite her why she suddenly left.

"It's alright" answered the guy giving a smile, "You ready to order?"

"Umm…sure…yeah..." she said.

"What the hell am I doing?" she thought to herself again.

_Later…_

"So how'd your date go?" Ronny enquired.

"So, so" replied Rose.

"Really? He looks pretty damn cute to me AND he has nice manners too" said Ronny.

"And he's smart" she added as an afterthought.

"Well then, why don't you date him?" replied Rose. She _really _didn't want to talk to Ronny about her date.

"Whatever Miss Grumpy…if I could date him I would, mind you. But her asked _you _out not me" shot back Ronny.

"I just…I just feel guilty…" said Rose, her voice quivering.

"Look at me Rose Oritz, there is NOTHING, absolutely nothing to be guilty about. You can't live in Mack's memory forever. He wouldn't have wanted that. He would have wanted you to be happy."

"I know…it's just hard"

"You need to stop punishing yourself for what happened. You need to move on"

"You want me to stop loving Mack?" Rose said, he voice getting higher.

"Did I say that? Moving on doesn't mean forgetting Mack or stopping to love him. It just means being capable of loving again" said Ronny.

"I don't thing I am capable"

"You gotta try, hon. You have to try."


End file.
